Advising, Resources Abound at Wellesley

Beverly J. Luther is a first-year at Wellesley College. She is president of her class and says that she feels involved in the college community. And she says that all of her professors know her well.

Beverly's twin sister, Betty C. Luther '03, is a first-year at Harvard, but is not as confident as her sister about the resources available to her. While she thinks that professors certainly make themselves available to students, it might require extra effort to talk to them. At Harvard, she says, students need to take the initiative.

And while Harvard's active extra-curricular scene is overflowing with culture and student organizations, the talents of fellow classmates may prevent some students from getting involved, Betty says.

Wellesley is a relatively small, female, liberal arts college. Harvard is a large research university. It is no surprise that the two elite schools offer students a very different bang for their buck.

While Harvard has more physical resources--libraries, museums and research facilities--to offer, students who have attended both colleges say there are tradeoffs that come with Harvard's immensity.

Junior Victoria G. Fox, a Wellesley student spending a semester at Harvard, says that Harvard has all the information that students could ever need--the difficulty is in putting that information to use.

"There really is an incredible amount of physical resources at Harvard, but it's a bit frustrating to try and find the correct information," Fox says. "At Wellesley, the resources available are more accessible."

Julia B. Silvis '02 agrees. Silvis transferred to Harvard after spending her first year at Wellesley.